The Carmelite Sisters

Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm - Founding and Core Values

Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory spent her early years in Northern Ireland and Scotland and after entering and professing vows with the Little Sisters of the Poor in France, was assigned to homes in America. She developed a great love for the American people and wished to care for them according to living standards in the United States.

When this was not possible within the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, with the guidance and assistance of Patrick Cardinal Hayes of New York, she and six other Sisters began the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm on September 3,1929 in an empty rector in Upper Manhattan, New York. The Sisters now sponsor, co-sponsor or serve 20 facilities in the United States and one in Dublin, Ireland.

In Carmelite homes, Sisters and staff alike seek to carry out Mother Angeline's philosophy of care. She stressed the dignity and worth of every older people and the need to provide more than an up to date facility. In her words we must bring Christ to every older person, "giving them His compassion, His interest, His loving care, His warmth morning noon and night. It means inspiring the lay people who work with us to give the same type of loving care."

This is summed up in the Carmelite Sisters' slogan, "The difference is love," and their core values of Hospitality, Compassion, Sanctity of Life, and Shared Commitment.

Proud to Serve the Elderly of the Bronx

In 1931 Patrick Cardinal Hayes advised Mother Angeline Teresa to look for more suitable property for her fledgling but expanding community. The Radio Corporation of America building on Van Cortlandt Park South was deemed suitable and became not only the Congregation's first real home for the aged, but the Motherhouse and Novitiate of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm as well until those facilities moved to Germantown, NY in 1947.

The RCA building was purchased on August 15, 1931 and converted to a nursing home. With the assistance of Francis Cardinal Spellman, renovations were made to St. Patrick's Home and a six-story building was added in 1959. To meet the needs of the times, the old buildings were demolished and a new nursing facility was built on the same site in the 1980's.

St. Patrick's Home rightly can boast the motto "Where it All Began" and is proud of serving the elderly of the Bronx and surrounding areas since 1931.